Redwood Tree Biography
Redwood trees are ancient giants, the tallest living beings on the Earth, reaching heights of up to 360 feet (100+ meters). Redwoods are also known for their longevity, typically 500 – 1000 years, but sometimes more than 2000 years. Our contemporary Redwoods, however, are descendents from an even more ancient lineage. A hundred million years ago, in the age of dinosaurs, the primordial Redwoods were predominant in the forests of a much more moist and tropical North America. As the climate became drier and colder, the Redwoods retreated to a narrow strip along the Pacific coast of Northern California, where summer fog and mild winters contrast with harsher inland climates.
The contemporary Coast Redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. The species name is Latin meaning “forever living” or “forever green.” They are conifers (cone-bearing) gymnosperms (with “naked seeds”), like pines, firs and spruces, and keep their green needle leaves all year round. Coast Redwoods belong to the Taxodiaceae Plant Family, which also includes the two other surviving Redwood species: the Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, found in the mid-elevations of the central Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and the Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, once thought to be extinct, but discovered in a remote Chinese valley in 1948.
To walk into a Redwood forest is to enter nature’s cathedral. The Redwood needles form a dense mat on the forest floor, limiting understory plants and other tree growth, especially in a mature forest. The Redwood trunks reach upward, seeking the light far above the forest canopy, above the misty shroud below. In such an environment, it is not hard to imagine the misty primeval forests of old, when the Redwoods reached skyward to seek the pure light of the sun.
The needles of the Redwood also reflect this polarity of dark below and light above. The lower needles are broad and long, breathing the moist cool air below.
Redwood trees are ancient giants, the tallest living beings on the Earth, reaching heights of up to 360 feet (100+ meters). Redwoods are also known for their longevity, typically 500 – 1000 years, but sometimes more than 2000 years. Our contemporary Redwoods, however, are descendents from an even more ancient lineage. A hundred million years ago, in the age of dinosaurs, the primordial Redwoods were predominant in the forests of a much more moist and tropical North America. As the climate became drier and colder, the Redwoods retreated to a narrow strip along the Pacific coast of Northern California, where summer fog and mild winters contrast with harsher inland climates.
The contemporary Coast Redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. The species name is Latin meaning “forever living” or “forever green.” They are conifers (cone-bearing) gymnosperms (with “naked seeds”), like pines, firs and spruces, and keep their green needle leaves all year round. Coast Redwoods belong to the Taxodiaceae Plant Family, which also includes the two other surviving Redwood species: the Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, found in the mid-elevations of the central Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and the Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, once thought to be extinct, but discovered in a remote Chinese valley in 1948.
To walk into a Redwood forest is to enter nature’s cathedral. The Redwood needles form a dense mat on the forest floor, limiting understory plants and other tree growth, especially in a mature forest. The Redwood trunks reach upward, seeking the light far above the forest canopy, above the misty shroud below. In such an environment, it is not hard to imagine the misty primeval forests of old, when the Redwoods reached skyward to seek the pure light of the sun.
The needles of the Redwood also reflect this polarity of dark below and light above. The lower needles are broad and long, breathing the moist cool air below.
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
Redwood Tree
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